Between memory and silence, between trauma and nostalgia, between family and nation: remembering the First World War
Arnold-de Simine, Silke (2015) Between memory and silence, between trauma and nostalgia, between family and nation: remembering the First World War. In: Dessingué, A. and Winter, J.M. (eds.) Beyond Memory: Silence and the Aesthetics of Remembrance. Routledge Approaches to History. Abindgon, UK: Routledge, pp. 143-162. ISBN 9781138826472.
Abstract
Book synopsis: Beyond Memory: Silence and the Aesthetics of Remembrance analyses the intricate connections between silence, acts of remembrance and acts of forgetting, and relates the topic of silence to the international research field of Cultural Memory Studies. It engages with the most recent work in the field by viewing silence as a remedy to the traditionally binary approach to our understanding of remembering and forgetting. The international team of contributors examine case studies from colonialism, war, politics and slavery from across the globe, as well as drawing examples from literature, philosophy and sites of memory to draw three main conclusions. Firstly, that the relationship between remembering and forgetting is relational rather than ‘hermetic’, and the space between the two is often occupied by silence. Secondly, silence is a force in itself, capable of stimulating more or less remembrance. Finally, that silence is a necessary and key element in the interaction between the human mind and the ‘outer world’, and enables people to challenge their understanding of art, music, literature, history and memory. With an introduction by the editors discussing Memory Studies, and concluding remarks by Astrid Erll, this collection demonstrates that acceptance and consideration of silence as having both a performative and aesthetic dimension is an essential component of history and memory studies.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Birkbeck Interdisciplinary Research in Media and Culture (BIRMAC) (Closed), Gender and Sexuality, Birkbeck (BiGS), Social Research, Birkbeck Institute for (BISR), Aesthetics of Kinship and Community, Birkbeck Research in (BRAKC) |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Jun 2015 14:13 |
| Last Modified: | 09 Aug 2023 12:36 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/12325 |
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